SUBJECT ASSESSMENT PANEL
STANDARD AGENDA
1 Membership
a To welcome members.
b To receive apologies.
c To receive any declarations of interest.
2 Confidentiality
To note the confidentiality of the proceedings.
3 Minutes of Previous Panel Meeting
a To receive the Minutes of the Subject Assessment Panel meeting held in the previous academic year.
b To consider matters arising from the Minutes.
c To receive the written annual reports for the previous academic year of the Subject External Examiners and Award External Examiners (ie those primarily linked to the Panel) together with any formal response and to consider any matters arising.
4 Subject Assessment Panel Regulations
aTo receive a statement of the purpose of the Panel:
i) to review the standard of assessment in the subject, and ensure the maintenance of appropriate academic standards in modules,
ii) to confirm or modify module marks (NB once the marks have been confirmed by the Panel they may not be subsequently altered by an Award Assessment Board unless an error in transcription or an omission is discovered),
iii) to decide on recommendations which are to be forwarded to the Award Assessment Board through the Chair of the Panel on the form of referral for individual modules, confirming that the referral assessments meet the learning outcomes with which they are associated
iv) NOTE: the Panel will NOT consider details of extenuating circumstances relating to individual students and does NOT consider the overall performance of individual students,
bTo note the regulations for passing modules.
5 Standards of Assessment and Marks in each Module
aTo review the standards of assessment in the module by consideration of the following:
• the mechanisms used to ensure academic standards,
• when considering the statistics for each module, all modules with a pass rate <85% at level 0, <90% at level 4 and <95% in levels 5 and above, should include commentary within the module action plan to raise standards for the future (where class sizes are less than 30 the panel should use its discretion)[1],
bTo report and discuss any problems affecting the assessment of all students in the module.
cTo note any assessments not marked anonymously.
dTo receive a list of those modules for which alternative assessment has been requested and the decision on each (providing a list of all decisions, whether alternative assessment has been agreed or not, will provide a record of where it was concluded inappropriate to amend assessment and more generally facilitate transparency and consistency in decision-making).
eProfessional Body/Subject Association Issues – to discuss developments in relation to assessment – in particular those relating to disability.
fTo receive the module marks.
gTo receive a report on any examination and assessment offences.
hTo confirm the module marks.
6 Referral
To agree recommendations to the Award Assessment Board on the form of the referral, the date for submission of referred work and the involvement of the External Examiner in referred work.
7Subject External Examiner(s) Matters
ato receive a list of those modules which have been subject to detailed scrutiny by the Subject External Examiner in the current academic year and in the previous two years
bTo receive the Subject External Examiner(s) Report(s) for the current academic year.
cTo confirm the Subject External Examiner’s agreement or otherwise that the assessment strategy is appropriately enacted in the questions set.
dTo confirm whether there are any matters that require discussion with the Award External Examiner prior to the Award Assessment Board.
eTo obtain signature(s) of the Subject External Examiner(s) on the declaration form.
fTo receive a report on the status of the Subject External Examiner(s) appointment and, where appropriate (a year before that appointment was due to come to an end), steps that had been taken to identify a replacement.
gTo record thanks to External Examiner(s), particularly if their period of office is ending.
8 Board Representation
To agreed Panel representatives for Award Assessment Boards.
9 Any Other Business
The following documents should be available at the meeting for reference purposes:
• The regulatory document entitled "The Organisation and Operational Instructions of Subject Assessment Panels and Award Assessment”
• Regulations for passing specific modules
• Minutes/Notes of Subject Assessment Panel meeting held in the previous academic year
• Previous Subject External Examiner Report and Responses
Operational instructions for Plymouth University Subject Assessment Panels and Award Assessment Boards 2017-18 v2
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[1]Pass rate specifications are intended as guidance to encourage a reflective approach towards the reasons for failure and action that might be taken to improve achievement, rather than an expected threshold.